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The three wickets Rashid Khan took in the chase took him to No. 1 on the wicket-taker’s list in men’s T20Is

Danyal Rasool01-Sep-2025Afghanistan survived a brief scare from Muhammad Waseem to ultimately secure a comfortable 38-run victory, their first of the competition, on Monday. As so often, it was Rashid Khan who led the way for them, his 3 for 21 derailing the UAE at a critical juncture midway through their innings just when they looked to have made a fist of chasing 189. He also became the highest wicket-taker in men’s T20Is in the process.That target was set thanks to half-centuries from Ibrahim Zadran and Sediqullah Atal, whose 84-run partnership put their side on course after the early loss of Rahmanullah Gurbaz. UAE turned in a better bowling performance than they did against Pakistan, with their seam bowlers keeping Afghanistan quiet for the most part through the powerplay and then in phases during the middle overs, but paid the price for losing their discipline at the death. A priceless cameo from Karim Janat in the penultimate over meant 22 runs were added, and helped Afghanistan finish above par.UAE rely so often on Waseem for a realistic shot, and that’s exactly what he provided as he flew out of the blocks. They suffered none of the early difficulties Afghanistan had at the start as they stayed ahead of the asking rate thanks largely to their captain. But it always had the feel of a solo effort, and when he was dismissed, no one could replicate that scoring rate, and Afghanistan had enough on the scoreboard, and with the ball, to make the win look cushier than it once looked.

Early jitters

The pressure was squarely on Afghanistan at the start, having lost the toss and beginning the day at the bottom of the table. That pressure was compounded after Junaid Siddique and Muhammad Rohid got through three tight overs that allowed just 16, before Rohid drew an edge from a struggling Gurbaz to send him on his way. Atal and Ibrahim saw through a further couple of overs with the first five overs of the powerplay decisively going the home side’s way.

Afghanistan turn it around

But UAE introduced seam bowler Saghir Khan for the final over of the powerplay, and the pair saw an opportunity. A slot ball first up was whipped over midwicket, and Saghir’s lengths didn’t improve as the over went on. Afghanistan plundered 18 from it, and it set the partnership on its way.Atal picked his moments through the remainder of the partnership, finding a four or a six just about every over, with Ibrahim cashing in when Dhruv Parashar sent down an errant over. It wasn’t until the Afghanistan 100 was brought up that UAE finally broke the partnership, but with eight overs to go, Afghanistan had the platform they needed to launch.Ibrahim Zadran made 63 in 40 balls•Emirates Cricket Board

Dash at the death

And launch they did. Throughout much of the innings, UAE had held on to Afghanistan’s coattails, making sure they never pulled too far ahead. That faded in the final four overs, though, as the wheels came off for the hosts and Afghanistan’s lower-middle order plundered 49 off the following three overs.Azmatullah Omarzai – whose cameo was pivotal to his side’s acceleration – triggered the gear change with a six over the on side, with Ibrahim matching him later in the over. Omarzai would go after Saghir too, but it was Janat’s takedown of Rohid – who had given away just 12 in his first three and taken two wickets – that took the game out of the UAE’s hands. Two sixes and two fours saw Rohid bleed 22, and though Siddique would follow with a sensational final over, the damage by now had been done.

Rashid triggers implosion

Talismanic captain Waseem had put UAE on course with another excellent display that combined power with timing and judiciousness, keeping up with the asking rate without appearing to take too many risks. There were imperious signs that belligerence would continue unabated when he piledrove Rashid for a straight six over the sight screen in his second over; by the end of the ninth over, they required just over nine with eight wickets still in hand.All of that changed in four deliveries. Waseem miscued one off Sharafudin Ashraf and was gone for a 37-ball 67, leaving Asif Khan to try and repeat the heroics that came in vain against Pakistan.The first ball he faced off Rashid, though, Asif misread the turn, and found his off stump rattled. UAE’s two main attacking threats gone and the asking rate climbing, Rashid sliced through the batting, polishing off Ethan D’Souza and Parashar to finish his spell. By now, the asking rate had climbed to nearly 16, and only an unbeaten half-century from Rahul Chopra, achieved with a six off the game’s final ball, reduced Afghanistan’s margin of victory.

Gus Atkinson joins Jofra Archer, Sam Cook and Jamie Overton as alternative seam-bowling options in England’s 16-man squad

Matt Roller06-Jul-20254:11

Stokes: We weren’t able to deliver our skills when needed

England will consider making changes to their bowling attack after a gruelling workload in their 336-run defeat to India, and have added Gus Atkinson to the squad for Thursday’s third Test at Lord’s after time out following a hamstring injury.England’s three frontline seamers – Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue and Chris Woakes – have all bowled between 77 and 82 overs in the first two Tests of the series. Atkinson joins Jofra Archer, Sam Cook and Jamie Overton as the alternative seam-bowling options in the 16-man squad for Lord’s, and the tight turnaround between Tests could prompt changes.”It’s no secret that we have spent some time in the field and bowled some overs in the first two games, and we’ll have to see how everyone pulls up over the next two days,” Ben Stokes said. “With it being a quick turnaround, there probably will be a decision we have to make given how everyone does pull up after this game.”Related

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Archer has not played a Test match since February 2021, but bowled regularly during intervals at Edgbaston this week, and Brendon McCullum hinted he will make his comeback next week. “We’ll let this one settle, and when we get to [Lord’s] we’ll have a good think about it,” McCullum told the BBC’s .Asked about Archer’s availability, McCullum said, “He’s fit and ready to go. Obviously the other boys have had two Test matches on the spin now, so you’d anticipate you would make a change at some stage with the line-up, and Jofra is one we’ll look at.”Stokes added, “Everyone’s in consideration for the game at Lord’s.”England’s margin of defeat – 336 runs – was their third-heaviest since Stokes took over as captain on a full-time basis, but he insisted that it will not affect them moving forwards. “We’ve obviously had some unbelievable wins and some bad defeats,” he said. “I feel I’m quite good – and the team is – at staying level throughout those ups and downs.”That is so important in a series where we knew coming in that it wasn’t going to be easy… We have to wipe this one under the carpet as quickly as we can, because Lord’s day one will be coming around pretty quickly. We will have one or two days to get the bodies right and recover, and all of a sudden, we will be out there flipping the coin.”He also played down the significance of England’s inability to take 20 wickets at Edgbaston. “You do have to appreciate how well India played with the bat,” Stokes said. “[They were] obviously pretty favourable conditions if someone got in; two of our lads showed that this week… You are allowed to let your opposition play well, and they definitely did that.”

England squad for Lord’s Test against India

Ben Stokes (capt), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.

Former captain says he was ready to leave after the 2019 World Cup, but nothing came of those discussions

Mohammad Isam07-Jun-2020Mashrafe Mortaza wasn’t “prepared for such a hasty arrangement” to give him a farewell game and push him into retirement from international cricket, especially because, as he said, he was willing to quit after Bangladesh’s exit from the 50-over World Cup last year anyway.Mortaza, the former Bangladesh captain, said that while there was talk of him retiring after a disappointing performance at the World Cup, discussions were shelved after a point, but a couple of months later, the BCB reportedly tried to arrange an ODI against Zimbabwe to allow him to bow out. At the time, the schedule had Zimbabwe coming to Bangladesh to only play a T20I tri-series in September, also involving Afghanistan. It was reported that the BCB waited for Mortaza’s word on whether he wanted to retire or not before arranging the ODI, the only format he was active in. At the time, Mortaza wanted to play on, especially the BPL, so the plan was shelved. When he resigned from captaincy in March this year, it was during a pre-scheduled ODI series.ALSO READ: Life in the time of Mashrafe Mortaza“To be honest, I was ready to go into retirement after the last match of the World Cup,” Mortaza, who still hasn’t announced his retirement from the game, told ESPNcricinfo. “But somehow there was talk about [creating] a better atmosphere. So I wasn’t prepared for such a hasty arrangement [for a farewell match]. I spoke to (BCB president Nazmul Hassan) afterwards. I told him that I want to play the BPL, and then leave the captaincy after the Zimbabwe series.”The 36-year-old allrounder’s poor returns during the World Cup had led to renewed calls for his retirement – they had begun earlier, after he became a member of parliament in Bangladesh. In the immediate aftermath of Bangladesh’s last match at the World Cup, the BCB sacked coach Steve Rhodes. Mortaza was prepared to travel to Sri Lanka for the ODI series in July, but missed out because of an injury.Back to the retirement-that-wasn’t, and Mortaza also felt that spending a lot of money and energy on arranging just one match for a farewell wasn’t the best plan.”It was such a busy schedule that a match was being planned to remove me, and it would cost them BDT 2 crore [$235,500 approx.], Mortaza said. “It worried me. I also wondered what would have happened had I gone to Sri Lanka just after the World Cup. There was no discussion at that time. But, all of a sudden, Zimbabwe are coming to play T20s, and these things started to show up in the media.”It was embarrassing for me because they were talking about the BDT 2 crore that it would cost the BCB, for that ODI against Zimbabwe, while first-class cricketers are not getting enough money, and our Test cricket isn’t improving. You have all written about it, and the players have also spoken about it. So rather than investing two crore on a player like me, it would have been easier to involve that amount in first-class cricket.”Bangladesh’s lopsided schedule following the World Cup, which had only three ODIs for the rest of the year, complicated matters.
“I thought that I could have retired from a normal series,” he said. “See, prior to the Sri Lanka tour, nobody spoke to me about it. So to talk about it in such haste all of a sudden was worrying.”Ahead of the third ODI against Zimbabwe in March this year, Mortaza announced his decision to step down from the captaincy, ending an illustrious career as captain, and part of the motivation was to give his successor – Tamim Iqbal, as it turned out – time to prepare for the 2023 World Cup.”We have around three years before the next World Cup,” Mortaza said. “BCB would get a better platform as the World Cup is being held in the subcontinent. BCB would get enough time to prepare a new captain. I am sure Tamim will do well.”

Pepper, Wheater make light work of run-chase to hand Eagles victory on DLS method

ECB Reporters Network29-Jun-2021Michael Pepper scored his maiden Vitality Blast half-century as Essex Eagles beat Somerset by six wickets on DLS to maintain their hopes of qualifying for the knockouts.Pepper, in his 18th T20 appearance, struck a chase-perfect 55 off 35 balls, having put on 80 with Adam Wheater for the third wicket.Simon Harmer had bedazzled Somerset as he claimed 4 for 24 – his second successive four-for – while New Zealander Devon Conway made it back-to-back half-centuries as he glued the innings of 153 together.That was before Pepper and Wheater made short shrift of the run-chase to win with five balls to spare – and give the Eagles only their fourth T20 victory at the Cloudfm County Ground, Chelmsford, since the beginning of the 2018 season.Somerset were stuck in by the Eagles on a hybrid pitch being used for the fourth time – a fact that made the proficiency of spin no surprise.The visitors, on the back of chasing down 168 without losing a wicket against Kent Spitfires the previous evening, started off with stands of 30, 31 and 46 as they reached 77 for 2 at the half-way point – with Tom Banton caught at mid-on and Will Smeed sweeping Harmer to the square leg boundary.Harmer then grabbed three wickets in an over – Lewis Goldsworthy caught at midwicket, Tom Lammonby lbw and Lewis Gregory chipping into the leg side – as Somerset lost seven wickets in 26 balls.Ben Green skied Aron Nijjar, Craig Overton edged to short third man, Marchant de Lange was caught by Pepper running in from long on and Conway – having struck his fifty in 42 balls – picked out deep midwicket. From the last ball of the innings Sam Cook castled Max Waller to land on 153.Michael Pepper catches Marchant De Lange•Getty Images

After a delayed start to their innings, Wheater and Will Buttleman were both dropped before another rain break saw an over chopped off and the target revised to 148.The rain subsided and saw Buttleman drill to backward point and Dan Lawrence fluffed his slog to long off to leave Essex in danger of collapsing on 35 for 2.But Wheater and Pepper recovered with a brilliantly paced innings, which initially matched the DLS score before occasionally cutting loose to reach a 50 stand in 31 balls.The partnership was eventually broken on 80 as Wheater was caught at short cover for 49 before de Lange pinned back Jimmy Neesham’s leg stump.Pepper was dropped with 15 still needed before cutting to bring up his fifty – with Ryan ten Doeschate smashing Jack Brooks for six over long on to win the match.

Former Pakistan medium-pacer Asmavia Iqbal has been named as the new head of the women’s selection panel

Danyal Rasool28-Dec-2021Urooj Mumtaz has quit as chair of the women’s selection committee, the PCB announced in a statement. The former Pakistan player, who is also a television commentator, left the role “to focus on her professional commitments as well as to pursue other opportunities within the game,” the release stated.Former Pakistan medium-pacer Asmavia Iqbal has been named as the new chief of the selection panel and will be assisted by junior selection committee members Saleem Jaffar and Taufeeq Umar.”It has been a wonderful experience to head the selection committee and contribute in the growth and progression of women’s cricket,” Mumtaz said. “I am grateful for the opportunity and thank all my colleagues, while wishing the team the very best in the 2022 international commitments and beyond.”PCB chairman Ramiz Raja expressed his gratitude towards Mumtaz. “You worked diligently in your role for which the PCB is grateful and indebted. We wish you best for your future endeavours.”Related

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Mumtaz’s resignation is her second such departure this year. In May, she quit her position as Head of Women’s Cricket in Pakistan after her multiple roles with the board and in television came under increasing scrutiny. The PCB had begun to take a more uncompromising stance over potential conflicts of interest; Misbah ul Haq had also seen his term as chief selector and coaching position with Islamabad United come to an end while he served as head coach of the men’s side. At the time, Mumtaz was replaced as Women’s Cricket Head by Tania Mallick, a member of the Pakistan Olympic Association.Meanwhile, top-order batter Bismah Maroof confirmed she would be available for the ODI World Cup starting March 2022, scheduled to be held in New Zealand. The former Pakistan captain has been on maternity leave since last December and gave birth to a girl in August.”The past few months have been the best of my life,” Maroof said. “Becoming a mother and spending time with my daughter has given me immense pleasure, but it is now time to return to my passion of representing Pakistan at an international stage.”The maternity leave helped me realise the significance of navigating the balance of raising a child and maintaining my professional cricketing career as I missed being on the field each time I saw the girls in action. I can now resume my ambitions and aspirations of playing for Pakistan and hope to make a useful contribution in our target of doing well in New Zealand.”According to the PCB statement, under the board’s maternity policy, if Maroof is selected, “she will be allowed to be accompanied by her dependent child and one support person of her choice.”

England in control against Australia A while Lauren Winfield-Hill, Paige Scholfield post tons against Test side

Valkerie Baynes16-Jun-2023Tammy Beaumont scored a double-century as England Women piled on 510 runs in a day to build a huge 390-run lead against Australia A Women during a three-day warm-up for the Women’s Ashes Test at Trent Bridge next week.Beaumont retired out on 201 from 238 balls in Derby with England 611 for 7 in response to 221 all out by an Australia A side captained by left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen, the only member of Australia’s Test squad to move into the A side for the build-up game.Beaumont and Emma Lamb, who fell for 10 on Thursday when she was caught by Tahlia Wilson off the bowling of Maitlan Brown, are England’s incumbent Test openers, having done the job in last year’s draw with South Africa at Taunton. Heather Knight, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Sophia Dunkley all scored half-centuries and Amy Jones cruised to 88 off just 65 balls before Jonassen had her caught by Brown.Related

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Jones was full of praise for Beaumont’s knock, which resumed on 65 on the second morning with England 120 runs behind with nine wickets in hand. She shared a 170-run partnership with captain Knight for the second wicket and 148 with Sciver-Brunt, Knight’s deputy, for the third.”Five hundred runs in a day is a great effort and Tammy set that up brilliantly,” Jones said. “I thought it was an incredible innings really. I don’t remember any chances. She just looked really free flowing and soaked up pressure in the harder moments of the game as well, so she was brilliant and we had some good partnerships throughout which is good to see.”But an intriguing sub-plot was developing in Leicester, where England A, led by captain by Lauren Winfield-Hill, took a lead of 278 runs after two days of their three-day warm-up against Australia’s Test players. Winfield-Hill, who lost her England central contract ahead of this season amid a nine-month period of being overlooked for the senior side, reached 106 from 148 deliveries batting at No. 4 before legspinner Alana King had her caught by Georgia Wareham.Meanwhile Danni Wyatt, who is part of England’s Test squad but moved to the A side this week, scored 37 off 43 balls at No. 5 before she was trapped lbw by Australia pace spearhead Darcie Brown. Wyatt had moved to the top of the order in the shorter formats last year when Winfield-Hill lost her place during the 50-over World Cup and Beaumont was dropped from the T20 side ahead of the Commonwealth Games. Winfield-Hill made a return to T20Is during England’s winter tour of West Indies, twice batting at No. 3 below Wyatt, who has played 245 white-ball internationals but is yet to make her Test debut.Paige Scholfield, the leading run-scorer in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy so far this season, also scored a century, while Bess Heath and Grace Scrivens, who led England to the Under-19 T20 World Cup final earlier this year, scored a half-centuries against the Australians.Ashleigh Gardner, the Australian allrounder named Player of the Tournament after helping her side lift the T20 World Cup in February, didn’t bowl as a precaution after being hit on the right index finger while catching before play on Thursday. While there was some swelling, the injury didn’t trouble her while batting or fielding and she was expected to be fit for the Test starting on Thursday.England A closed on 562 for 9 in reply to Australia’s first-innings 284, which was built on opener Beth Mooney’s century. Kim Garth was the pick on a “tough day” for Australia’s bowlers, with 4 for 69, and King claimed three wickets.”There is a lot of positives to come out of it though,” Garth said. “I think we actually did quite well on a wicket that’s not offering much for the bowlers. Credit to them as well, they did bat very well. If you asked the coaching staff upstairs, I think they probably would have wanted a game like this rather than just cruising through three days of cricket so I think there’s plenty to take out of it into next week.”

Lancashire took the spoils in front of a record home crowd despite Joe Root’s late-innings heroics and a thrilling finish at Old Trafford

Paul Edwards at Old Trafford20-Jul-2018
ScorecardOn evenings such as this it is perhaps worth remembering that Liam Livingstone esteems his red-ball cricket above the shorter formats. Certainly as his six sixes sailed into the stands at Emirates Old Trafford the majority of the 22,515 spectators would have found that preference difficult to credit. Then again, they probably didn’t care. All that mattered to Lancashire Lightning’s fans was that Livingstone’s 37-ball 79 was taking his side most of the way to their colossal score of 176 for 2 in a game reduced by early rain to 14 overs-a-side.Yet so coolly do batsmen regard an asking-rate of 12.57 runs per over in short-form cricket these days – this game’s 28 overs included 23 maximums – that Yorkshire’s batsmen came within one boundary of overhauling Lancashire’s score. Indeed, had Kane Williamson hit the last ball of the innings for four, visiting supporters would have been celebrating a magnificent victory. As it was, Lancashire’s left-arm seamer Toby Lester managed his jangling nerves and restricted Williamson to a couple of runs. Rarely can a cricketer have celebrated bowling three overs for 48 runs quite so ecstatically.

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“I’ve never felt that that,” Livingstone said. “I was stood at long-on feeling sick. It’s probably up there with one of the best games I’ve played in. Toby changed his plan and bowled yorkers at the finish and it was great for him to perform under the pressure of a Roses game. We’ve now won five on the trot and we’re flying.”But amid the euphoria of the home victory, Lancashire’s fifth in six North Group games this season, there was also proper credit paid to Yorkshire’s batsmen for their extraordinary pursuit. Adam Lyth got things going in grand style by whacking half a dozen sixes in his 26-ball 60 but arguably the most impressive innings was played by Joe Root, whose 22-ball 51 not out proved that orthodox strokes can be quite as effective as clubbing, even when chasing down a massive score.It was no night for bowlers and not much of a one for fielders. Only Steve Patterson conceded less than ten runs an over and Yorkshire’s spinners, Adil Rashid and Azeem Rafiq, were particularly wayward, their four overs costing 61 runs. However, Matt Parkinson and Steven Parry disappeared for only ten runs fewer, although Parkinson dismissed both Lyth and David Willey, the first caught at long-on by Livingstone, the second stumped by Buttler for 20. At that point the leg-spinner was on a hat-trick, but it is doubtful if many people noticed that either.Only three catches were taken all night but the one not properly attempted was decisive. In the first over of Lancashire’s innings Livingstone skied Willey to deepish extra cover. Williamson, Lyth and Patterson all ran to within a few yards of the ball – and left it to each other. Livingstone had made 4.Liam Livingstone set Yorkshire a formidable target•Getty Images

It was also a pretty damaging night for Old Trafford’s fabric. With when a record crowd filling Old Trafford – the largest for any T20 game outside London excluding Finals Day – the frame of the press box was hit by one of Liam Plunkett’s sixes and the window of the Radio Lancashire box was whacked by Jos Buttler’s only maximum before the ball dropped on to the Yorkshire balcony, from where Martyn Moxon, the county’s director of cricket, returned it to the field. The 7500 folk in the precipitous Foster’s Party Stand, a massive structure which could double as a ski-jump in the winter, also welcomed sixes from each side.And all of this was missed by Steven Croft, who was left out of Lancashire’s side after making 148 consecutive appearances since his debut in June 2006, an impressive sequence which has left him 11 short of the world record currently held by Suresh Raina of the Chennai Super Kings. Lancashire’s former captain watched the match from the balcony and may have reflected that this was not the short-form game he played a dozen years ago. And in less than a decade you can bet it will be different again.

BBL’s all-time leading run-scorer will fulfil long-held ambition to play county cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff02-May-2022Chris Lynn will play county cricket for the first time this summer after agreeing a deal to play for Northamptonshire in the T20 Blast.ESPNcricinfo revealed on Friday that Lynn’s name topped Northants’ shortlist for a second overseas player to appear alongside James Neesham in this year’s competition, and the club confirmed his signing on Monday morning.Lynn made his first appearance in English domestic cricket last summer, playing for Northern Superchargers in the Hundred, but this will be his first stint in the county game.”I have always wanted to play county cricket and I’m really looking forward to joining up with Northamptonshire for the Vitality Blast,” he said. “The UK is a great place to play and I am hopeful that I can contribute with some good performances and also try to entertain the Steelback fans this summer.”Related

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Lynn is the Big Bash League’s all-time leading run-scorer but his form has dipped in the last two years. Since August 2020 he has averaged 23.20 with a strike rate of 133.33 in all T20 cricket and he has fallen out of Australia contention.But Northants were in the market for a top-order batter following the departure of Adam Rossington on a season-long loan to Essex and Lynn was the perfect fit, according to their T20 captain Josh Cobb.”To get someone of Lynn’s quality is an excellent signing,” Cobb said. “He fits the bill really well in terms of his power at the top of the order and fills that slot for us nicely. I really get the feeling he has a hunger to go out there and perform and when he does Wantage Road certainly won’t be big enough.”Lynn’s captained the Brisbane Heat for a number of years too so for me personally he brings those leadership qualities as well,” Cobb added. “I’m looking forward to working alongside him and getting some different views he might have.”

India A will play three four-day games and as many List A matches against New Zealand

Shashank Kishore16-Aug-2022The BCCI is set to resume the India A programme in early September, with incoming tours from New Zealand, and possibly, Australia. It will be helmed by VVS Laxman and his NCA support staff group of Sairaj Bahutule and Sitanshu Kotak.ESPNcricinfo has learnt that New Zealand A will arrive in India by the end of August for three four-day games and as many List A matches, with all of them likely to be held in Bengaluru. The BCCI is also contemplating the possibility of a pink-ball fixture during the series, but a final nod is awaited.New Zealand A played a pink-ball game on their previous tour to India in 2017-18. That game in Vijayawada, though, was a day fixture despite being played with the pink ball. And if the game in the upcoming series next month does go ahead, it will be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.The New Zealand A tour is expected to overlap with the Duleep Trophy, the zonal first-class competition, which will open India’s domestic calendar for the 2022-23 season. The six-team tournament will be played from September 8 to 25 in Chennai and Coimbatore.The home series against New Zealand will be India A’s first assignment since their tour to South Africa late last year, just prior to the national team’s three-Test series in December.The BCCI is also understood to be in negotiations with Cricket Australia for a tour towards the end of the year – most likely in November – prior to the start of the Ranji Trophy and India’s next Test assignment, which will be in Bangladesh.The Bangladesh tour, consisting of two Tests, will be India’s penultimate World Test Championship (WTC) assignment. They will culminate the current leg of the WTC with a four-Test series at home against Australia in February-March.

Wicketkeeper-batter moves north looking to secure opportunities across all three formats

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Sep-2022Ollie Robinson, the Kent wicketkeeper-batter, has agreed a three-year deal to join Durham from the end of the season.Robinson, 23, made his Kent debut in 2017 and has played for England Lions, but went on loan to Durham earlier in the summer in order to gain opportunities in T20 cricket, where he has had to contend with Sam Billings and Jordan Cox being above him in the pecking order.”We currently have two wicketkeepers who are in and around senior England squads In Sam Billings and Jordan Cox, and Ollie Robinson has toured with England Lions,” Kent’s director of cricket, Paul Downton, said. “Kent has produced three fantastic wicketkeeper-batters through the club’s academy in recent years, and at some stage this situation was going to come to a head.”From my own personal experience as a player, I can understand Ollie’s decision to move clubs to guarantee playing time. Of course, we would prefer that Ollie stayed at Kent, but he has to do what is best for his career.”Ollie has been a brilliant servant to the club, and he leaves with our very best wishes.”Robinson has been Kent’s first-choice keeper in the Championship since his breakthrough season in 2019, when he scored the first of his four first-class hundreds for the club. This summer saw him become only the fifth Englishman to score a List A double-hundred, as Robinson averaged 59.33 in the Royal London Cup.He also scored 226 runs across 12 innings for Durham in the T20 Blast, including a career-best 56 against Yorkshire.’I’m thrilled to be joining Durham Cricket from next season and beyond,” Robinson said. “Having been a part of the group during my loan stint I know how much quality the squad possesses, and I feel there are some exciting times ahead, hopefully I can make some major contributions and help Durham win some trophies.”I want to thank all the staff on and off the field for making me feel so welcome earlier this season – I look forward to meeting up with everyone again and getting down to business. I feel Durham is the right place for me to help fulfil my goals and next season can’t come fast enough. I’m looking forward to seeing what the north has to offer.”Durham’s director of cricket, Marcus North, said: “We’re extremely delighted that Ollie has chosen to join Durham and we have been able to secure the signature of one of the most talented and skilful wicketkeeper-batters in England.”At only 23, Ollie has already established great foundations in all formats of his game, and we look forward to nurturing this very exciting talent in his next stage of his career at Durham.”This is the quality and skillset we have been looking for that will strengthen our playing squad in all formats. We look forward to him joining back up with us during pre-season and the impact he will have with us next season and beyond.”